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Best Oils for 4c Hair

We love to collaborate with other 4c Hair Chicks. This week, we’re excited to introduce to you our gal pal, Rajeeyah. She’s the lovely woman behind the Kinky Beautiful YouTube channel. We connected with Rajeeyah and asked her to break down for the 4cHC Crew the best oils for 4c Hair. Keep reading to find out what Rajeeyah recommends.

Video Tutorial

Don’t you just love YouTube? Us too! In this video tutorial, Rajeeyah shares the best oils for 4c hair and also gives a demonstration on how to apply the oil to your hair.

Video Recap

Here is a an overview of the four oils covered in the video and their benefits.

Castor Oil:It’s best to purchase cold pressed castor oil. The reason is because cold pressed means that zero heat is used to extract the oil from the bean. Because heat is not used, it preserves the nutritional integrity of the oil. Note to self: keep an eye out for cold pressed oils. Castor oil can be a great oil option for your hair for a number of reasons. The oil is reach in vitamin E, amino acids, and omega-6 fatty acids which are great nutrients for your hair. Castor oil is a thick viscous oil and so it’s used not only to promote shine, but also it gives a thicker appearance to your hair strands. The oil is a good choice for scalp massaging because it has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. When you use it regularly to massage your scalp, not only are you stimulating growth, but you’re also cleaning your scalp.

Olive Oil: If you suffer from dryness, (whether it be dry hair strands or dry scalp) olive oil is a good oil choice. Olive oil penetrates the cortex of your hair strands, which means it hydrates beyond just a surface coating. If your strands are thirsty for moisture, olive oil can be used to help hydrate your hair. It’s not as viscous as castor oil, but it is thick so it offers long lasting moisture and shine to your hair. Being that our hair tends to be dry, the thickness of olive oil plays well with the texture of our hair. Olive oil is also loaded in antioxidants which is good news for our hair strands and our scalp health. Antioxidants nourish the skin, leaving you with a healthier scalp.

Coconut Oil: One of the cool things about coconut oil is that you get the moisturizing properties that come in castor oil and olive oil, but without the heaviness. Coconut oil is lighter than olive oil and castor oil, but it still penetrates to the cortex of your hair strands. The oil helps to remove dead skin cells from your scalp, making it a great oil to use when you prepoo. Another cool feature of coconut oil is shelf life. This oil can last a very long time without going rancid or oxidizing. There are some women with allergies to this particular oil, so if that’s you, the next best bet is olive oil.

Avocado Oil:Avocado oil has natural humectant properties which make it a great moisturizer for your hair. As kinky curlies, natural humectants are definitely our friend. They are the perfect ingredient to assist with locking in moisture. Like coconut oil, avocado oil is pretty light weight and easily absorbed into the hair and scalp. It boasts a long list of nutrients including vitamins A, B, D, E, protein, amino acids, iron, copper, magnesium, and folic acid. All these nutrients nourish our hair. One unique benefit of avocado oil is its SPF property. It offers great protection for your hair from the harsh rays of the sun. Consider keeping it front and center in your regimen during the summer months.

We’d like to know from you, what oils do you prefer to use in your hair? How do you apply the oil? Leave us a comment below and share with us how you do things. We love hearing back from you and look forward to reading your comments.

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I love to play with my hair even in protective styles!! Right now I have my hair in Janet Jackson braids/Big Box Braids and I’m always looking for ways to mess with it. I love to use the LOC Method to promote moisture in my hair. I first apply Water, then I apply Hollywood Beauty’s Teat Tree Oil. I find the scent of the oil magnificent and it provides lots of moisture. Finally, I apply ORS HAIR REPAIR:Intense Moisture Hair Creme to seal everything in. I use Tea Tree oil not only for it’s fragrance but because of the replenishing benefits of it’s use. It is light and leaves my hair shiny and replenished without the heaviness of most oils i have used in the past.

Karito Martinez

Hi, very helpful blog! Moroccan Argan oil works really well to repair damaged hair. I use the brand Pro Naturals, it leaves my hair super shiny and smells amazing.

since i’m low porosity and protein sensitive, i’ve found coconut oil dries my hair out very badly. it just feels rough. i usually seal using a mix of shae butter, castor, olive, and argon oil

JojoRaze

Castor Oil (regular Benjamin’s (it’s actually made in Jamaica, too), not JBCO) with Extra Virgin Olive Oil with a smidgen of jojoba oil work best for me. My hair absorbs oil like mad and doesn’t like light oils at all.

I am just learning. All my life I was told I had “bad hair”, mine is quite dry, and though it grows quickly, it breaks as fast as it grows. I have just figured out I have highly porous hair,it just sucks up moisture as the soon as it is applied. and am still trying to figure out the best means of moisturising. Yes, I am using the LOC method, but am quite unsure as to the best products, to use.I moisturise once per day. My hair is dreadlocked at the moment and badly damaged, so I preparing my hair for the let down. Suggestions in relation to the creams/butters as well as conditioner for co-washing , deep conditioning will be welcome. Thank you.

http://www.4cHairChick.com/ 4cHairChick

Great questions. I’ll ask the editorial team to put some articles together around those questions. Thank you!

Tambra

Thank you. I am reading that constant conditioning may not be the best thing for locks, but since I am planning to transition it may not be the worst thing. Further, I had my hair locked for a number of years, and it was a number of years of abuse; I have seen it being said that hair that has been as locked as long as mine tend to be very fragile in the let down.

Jessy2408

The thing is, most of us 4c hair have low porosity, so an heavy oil is not so good because your hair won’t absorb it. Therefore, an lighter oil would be best, like jojoba or grapeseed

http://www.4cHairChick.com/ 4cHairChick

Great feedback thanks for sharing. Definitely a lot of factors to consider when picking an oil. The details shared provide a great start. Whether plays a roll too, but you’re right for low porosity Jojoba and Grapeseed are great options.

Mary W

About the weather, what are good oils for winter that won’t act as humectants? My hair struggles with castor oil then and gets dry. I just bought avacado oil for the winter, didn’t know it had humectant properties too. Olive and grape seed oils don’t do much for my hair.

Mary W

Mist 4c’s are lo po? I thought mine was and tried the lo po regimens and my hair suffered. I found my 4 B/C areas were high porosity and the 3-4a areas were lo po. Now I use castor oil and butters and my hair loves it.